Some of Canon's problem is the world economy...but much of it has to do with the RIDICULOUS prices that Canon is attaching to MANY of their products. WAY out of line with their competitors. I feel some massive rebates coming on sometime soon...I for one am buying NOTHING Canon until the company gets real...I bought a 5DIii 4 months ago...and now see it online for $700 less than I paid for it? Canon....that is insulting to your customers. I expect the price to drop...but nothing like this. Also delivering products that are far below their hardware capabilities and having hackers embarrassingly shoewng your own firmware ?Everyone...let's do a Canon boycott for 6 months...right thru the holidays and bring this arrogant behaving company to its knees!

These price drops may not be good for early adopters. That's why patience is always a virtue. But you had enjoyed your camera 4 months earlier than the rest of us. Right?

To me...it should be 1st come 1st serve, regardless when you placed your order.

But that's not how the law of supply and demand works. During introduction, there will be a lot more buyers so demand will be high and supply will be low. After initial spike in sales, it will go down and the manufacturing speed (supply) will be able to recover. I think this is very normal even for non-photography market sales.

Some of Canon's problem is the world economy...but much of it has to do with the RIDICULOUS prices that Canon is attaching to MANY of their products. WAY out of line with their competitors. I feel some massive rebates coming on sometime soon...I for one am buying NOTHING Canon until the company gets real...I bought a 5DIii 4 months ago...and now see it online for $700 less than I paid for it? Canon....that is insulting to your customers. I expect the price to drop...but nothing like this. Also delivering products that are far below their hardware capabilities and having hackers embarrassingly shoewng your own firmware ?Everyone...let's do a Canon boycott for 6 months...right thru the holidays and bring this arrogant behaving company to its knees!

These price drops may not be good for early adopters. That's why patience is always a virtue. But you had enjoyed your camera 4 months earlier than the rest of us. Right?

To me...it should be 1st come 1st serve, regardless when you placed your order.

But that's not how the law of supply and demand works. During introduction, there will be a lot more buyers so demand will be high and supply will be low. After initial spike in sales, it will go down and the manufacturing speed (supply) will be able to recover. I think this is very normal even for non-photography market sales.

+1

Ummm. Computers, Televisions and most electronics are similar - prices drop. Clothes go on sale all the time - even from high status brands.Nobody actually forced you to pay the asking price. I shelled out $2300 for the supposedly ridiculous 24-70 ii and love it and if other people are able to get one for $1500 in a couple of months I'd be happy for them. Canon are a business and will behave in a way that suits them. You need to make your purchase decisions based on your own evaluation of your needs/wants. Once you purchase and choose not to return it after testing you've made the decision. Presumably you aren't buying a body as a capital producing investment so you may as well be happy.

PackLight

"Demand for interchangeable-lens digital cameras continued to realizerobust growth in all regions while the market for compact digital cameras shrunk due to the stagnation of the global economy."

It is obvious that Canon realizes that the 6D release, the 5D III pricing and other DSLR issues are the primary cause for this quarters downturn. Obviously "Robust Growth" has a meaning I am not familure with.

I am living in Hong Kong. The 1Dx shows up in a lot of the camera shops now, like other luxurious items - watches, jewelry, French and Italian handbags, Apple items, expensive camera gear, ... etc, waiting for the rich Chinese to buy. In the past few years, this drive of luxurious items have pushed the local shop rent and residence prices sky high. This might sound exaggerated, but cinema closed down to become Luxury Item Shop(s?), a section of the most popular shopping area is now filled with expensive watch shops, and can you image a whole street of camera store chains - you can spot 3 stores from the same chain within 100 meters and they are not small!As the economic growth in China slows down, this bubble will burst soon. Canon's marketing dept will have a hard time forecasting the demand and pricing their products.

I am living in Hong Kong. The 1Dx shows up in a lot of the camera shops now, like other luxurious items - watches, jewelry, French and Italian handbags, Apple items, expensive camera gear, ... etc, waiting for the rich Chinese to buy. In the past few years, this drive of luxurious items have pushed the local shop rent and residence prices sky high. This might sound exaggerated, but cinema closed down to become Luxury Item Shop(s?), a section of the most popular shopping area is now filled with expensive watch shops, and can you image a whole street of camera store chains - you can spot 3 stores from the same chain within 100 meters and they are not small!As the economic growth in China slows down, this bubble will burst soon. Canon's marketing dept will have a hard time forecasting the demand and pricing their products.

I believe you are quite correct, but in a press statement we are not likely to find this.

If Canon would indeed state something like that, it would sound as if they admit an error of judgement regarding the compact camera sector, where, if I am not mistaken, Canon was and still is the market leader.

It appears to me that Canon tried and still tries to reap profits from that market, but realizes that it will dwindle away. Stating the stagnating global economy as a source for that downturn in income points to a cause Canon is unable to effect, so the company doesn't blame itself for what is happening, which I reckon is the exact reason they phrased it like this.

Read a little further: "As for compact digital cameras, while highly functional PowerShot-series models contributed to healthy sales, unit sales for the third quarter declined from the corresponding period of the previous year due to sluggish market demand."

Also: "Demand for compact digital cameras is anticipated to increase for models offering high functionality and high added value."

Canon is acknowledging sluggish demand for compact digital cameras and targeting higher end models (In particular the G1X and EOS-M). So, yes, they recognize that the traditional low-price consumer PowerShot models are not doing well and they are targeting the higher end.

This is a problem for all camera manufacturers, not just Canon. For years, profits from low-end consumer models have provided a foundation for manufacturers to build off of. DSLR sales remain strong and profitable, but will there ever be sufficient demand to replace the revenues lost from compact digital sales? I doubt it. It would not surprise me to see Canon's imaging business unit (cameras) and similar units within Nikon, Sony, Fuji and others all shrink considerably in the coming years. Bad news for employees who work on the production lines for compact digital cameras. But, since the ultimate success of a company is based more on return on investment rather than gross sales, a smaller, leaner imaging business unit doesn't necessarily spell doom.

Companies get in trouble when they fail to adapt to changing market conditions (Kodak). Those that anticipate and adjust succeed (Fuji).

Part of Canon's (and Nikon's) strategy seems to be to diversify the DSLR product line: maintaining a full range of APS-C models while expanding their Full Frame offerings. But, the DSLR market is fairly mature, so they also need to capture new customers with the high-end compacts. Manufacturers must navigate generational and cultural differences and the high-end compact offerings are part of that strategy.

There is absolutely NOTHING in the report that supports many of the posts on this thread. It might be fun and personally satisfying to misread this report to confirm pre-conceived ideas of what Canon's pricing strategy should be for a product that a forum participant happens to think costs too much, but the financials simply don't support any of that wishful thinking.

Companies get in trouble when they fail to adapt to changing market conditions (Kodak). Those that anticipate and adjust succeed (Fuji).

Seriously, Canon is a cash flush company that just made a bit short of Billion dollars in one quarter. Now they are in trouble?

That's my question. It seems Canon is doing remarkably well considering the world economic situation and some extremely intense competition.

They must be close to bankruptcy if they are only making 3 billion plus a year.

Here is the reality;Canon is listed as paying out 63% of their profits in dividends. The company "Canon" doesn't suffer at all in this down turn. The dividends just get smaller. The majority of the money everyone is discussing is money that doesn't go to R&D or anything else, it goes to the shareholders.